New Build - 1971 Lonestar Big Fisherman 14ft V

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BIDZ

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Hello all, I've been a lurker on this site ever since I bought my first tinny this winter and now that I've had a little time to get some mods done I thought I would share the progress and open up to any comments/suggestions. This site seems to be a valuable source of info with a lot of knowledgeable users so i'm welcoming any and all input.

This build is not my first conversion, but it is the first time being a conversion on my boat so I'm a little more enthused about this one!

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I picked up a 1971 Lonestar Big Fisherman off of craigslist for a pretty good deal. Came with trailer and dinky trolling motor.

Since, I have done the following:

- cleaned/stripped paint on the inside of the hull
- added front and rear decking with single hatch in each
- added pedestal mounts and seats in front and rear
- replaced transom
- sealed all seams and rivets with Cabela's aluminum boat patch
- coated inside of hull and gunwhales with Herculiner
- covered both decks with hydroturf
- added foot controlled motorguide to front

I plan to do the following in the coming days:

- strip/repaint trailer
- replace crank and lights on trailer
- strip/repaint exterior of the hull (haven't decided on color yet - suggestions?)
- run wires for trolling motor / FF / lights, etc.
- add nav lights
- add new numbers, regis stickers
- take fishing


I'm going to include a few pics of my progress thus far, but forgive me for the low quality phone pics. I'll try to get better pics once I'm able to get it all back together and on the water.
 
Here she is! Please, excuse the messy garage. It, too, is a work in progress.


I just noticed that I uploaded these in the wrong order so please start at the bottom of this post and work up!


Let me know what you think so far, I'll try to post more details once I get the bulk of it added.

Thanks for looking! :)
 

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What kind of motor are you planning to put on there? I don't think your rubber transom is going to give much of any support for an outboard. Might be able to get away with it with a small trolling motor.
 
mgros483 said:
What kind of motor are you planning to put on there? I don't think your rubber transom is going to give much of any support for an outboard. Might be able to get away with it with a small trolling motor.


I haven't found a motor yet, but I think I have a lead on a friend who has a small tiller steer he's willing to give me. Not sure on size. I failed to mention that the new transom is two part: wood and rubber. The rubber section wasn't thick enough to fill the entire area so the backing is 1/2" board sealed and finished and the visible half is the 3/4" rubber mat. I don't have any doubt in its stability, but I don't think I can explain it well enough to convey how strong this stuff is. It really is harder than any other rubber mat I've seen I has little to no give at all and should not pose any problems down the road.
 
That stall mat is some pretty tough stuff. I have some 3/8 in the bottom of my boat just for noise reduction & a non slip surface. I have no doubt that 3/4 with 1/2 inch wood backing will be plenty of strong.
 
Here are some more pics. Everything has dried and I've been able to reassemble the decking. Starting to look like a boat again!
 

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Made a little more progress today. Managed to mount the trolling motor and add the remaining hydroturf to the middle bench seat. Also installed an offset seat base for whenever I come across a motor.
 

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How did you install pedestal seats? Wanting to do this to mine but worried there won't be enough support.
 
ztjjones said:
How did you install pedestal seats? Wanting to do this to mine but worried there won't be enough support.

I just ran 6 sheetmetal screw through the deck and into the seat below. I would've liked to bolt them in, but the floatation under the seats made that a little more difficult. However, running the 6 screws through the base, 3/4" plywood, and top metal of the seat seems to have a pretty good hold on the base. I can sit in the seat and lean in all directions and there are no signs of flexing at all.

I'm thinking about adding another base in the middle bench seat, but am hesitant since I would just be screwing into the metal with no wood to give the extra support.
 
I've been busy here lately, but I managed to wire electric to the trolling motor, mount the rear nav light, and take the boat out for its maiden voyage. A few snags.... the battery (Everstart Marine 29DC) would not fit where I wanted to put it and I had to store it under the front seat, which added to my issue of being nose heavy.

I was able to take her out for a bit yesterday and confirm my suspicion that the boat is very very nose heavy. When standing on the front deck the rear is out of the water which is no good. All the more reason to get a motor soon!

The boat is no where near as stable as I thought it would be, but i'm sure that adding some weight across the boat will help.

Here are some pics. Let me know what you think
 

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It's been a productive weekend! I managed to wire up my navigation lights and have all my wiring loomed and tucked away. I also scored an '82 Johnson 15hp (9.9 stickers) motor for free! A good friend had one that wasn't being used and gave it to me on the condition that I not sell it. It hasn't been used in a couple of years, but appears to be in top shape. I pulled it apart and cleaned the carb, replaced the fuel lines, and changed the spark plugs. I'm planning to replace the water pump as a precaution and will need to get a new gas tank as the one he had doesn't fit under my rear deck. All-in-all a very good weekend. Hopefully this week I can route the wires for my fishfinders and then I can start thinking about paint.
 

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DaleH said:
Those bow lights look COOL! What are they, just short strips of LEDs?

The bow lights came as a kit from Amazon for $18 shipped. I got them here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ILYUQVA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The look really sweet IMO and they are very bright.
 
More progress made! 1 of 2 fish finders mounted as well as some work done to the motor. Now waiting on the fuel tank and new water pump to get here. Tracking says tomorrow and friday so hopefully this weekend I'll be up and running.
 

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Looking great!
How did you support the front and rear decks that you added?
How are they attached to the hull?
Did you add any support for the seat poles underneath the seats?
What type/brand of liner did you spray on the inside?

BTW, the bow lights look bad ***. Gonna have to get a set of those for my build!
 
HendersonPhoto said:
Looking great!
How did you support the front and rear decks that you added?
How are they attached to the hull?
Did you add any support for the seat poles underneath the seats?
What type/brand of liner did you spray on the inside?

BTW, the bow lights look bad ***. Gonna have to get a set of those for my build!


The front deck is supported in the rear by the factory bench seat. The plywood has two sheet metal screws running through and into the top of the bench seat. The slope of the boat's sides take support the deck for the most part, but I did fashion two brackets from angled aluminum. Each bracket is about 3 inches long and is bolted to the sides of the boat. The front portion of the deck is bolted to each bracket. 2 bolts through the hull on each side. I made certain to make the decking level with the top of the bench seat so it would help support the bulk of the weight.

The rear deck is also supported by the rear bench seat in similar fashion. At the very rear of the boat I bolted a piece of 1x2 across the transom to support the rear portion of the rear deck.

I'm not sure if I've made a lot of sense trying to describe the process, so I'll try to get some pics later to illustrate what I'm talking about. Both decks are rock solid.

As for the seat bases, each is held by 6 sheetmetal screws that run through the wood deck and into the top of the existing bench seat underneath. So far, each base is solid with no flex.

I went with Herculiner to coat the interior and it looks great and appears to be pretty tough. I went with the 1 gallon kit and was able to do 2 coats with a tiny bit left over.
 

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